


navigation systems

by steventhefishburnsides



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Character Study, Drabble, Gen, Self-Doubt, Unreliable Narrator, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-16
Updated: 2020-07-16
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:47:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25317781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/steventhefishburnsides/pseuds/steventhefishburnsides
Summary: Davenport looks at his crew
Relationships: Barry Bluejeans & Davenport, Barry Bluejeans & Magnus Burnsides & Davenport & Merle Highchurch & Lucretia & Lup & Taako, Davenport & Lup (The Adventure Zone), Davenport & Merle Highchurch, Davenport & Taako (The Adventure Zone), Davenport & The Director | Lucretia, Magnus Burnsides & Davenport
Comments: 6
Kudos: 20





	navigation systems

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [[DECLASSIFIED] Interview Transcripts, Starblaster Mission](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11531085) by [anonymousAlchemist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/anonymousAlchemist/pseuds/anonymousAlchemist). 



None of the IPRE crew are soldiers. That was a very intentional decision. All mission decisions were intentional- from the size of the crew to the color uniform they wore. Every proposal had to be submitted to no less than two committees and get signed off by six levels of brass before the final product was published in a vaguely detailed press release. It all comes down to optics, which is a fact that Davenport understands but despises. Before the Light of Creation, there was constant war and turmoil from the time the first sun came up, to the time the second sun went down. The Starblaster mission represents the turning point of their civilization. It represents science and harmony and exploration.

So, the PR team made sure that every image broadcasted home would maintain the vibrant, curious dream of the IPRE. Soldiers have loyalties. Soldiers have dark circles and grim faces. Soldiers, if it all goes to shit, become casualties instead of martyrs.

The crew are not soldiers.

But then a dark, oozing, wretched storm washes over their home and consumes it. Bonds break and splinter. His crew rush and huddle and hang on for dear life, while Davenport mans the controls. He’s not a fighter pilot, so he prays that his asteroid-avoidance training can get him and his crew out of the battle zone.

And after it all stops, after they break apart, atom from atom, bond from bond only to be remade, the adrenaline fades, and Davenport looks over the six not-soldiers under his command. He’s terrified, but he can’t show it, because it all comes down to optics, and he’s the captain, _goddammit_. But, he’s afraid. He’s afraid of the thing that just consumed his home, and he’s afraid of this new place that isn’t home, and he’s afraid that IPRE selected the perfect crew for a two-month-long exploratory mission, but a chemical bomb for a long-term lifeboat.

When Davenport looks at his crew - and himself - he sees Icarus. He’s read their files, and he knows that you don’t get to their level without being ambitious, without being an individual made of grit and determination and _hunger_. You don’t join an exploration if you don’t want to stretch yourself, your body and mind beyond the confines a rational person would choose. You don’t join the _first_ exploration without being overly confident that you’re the right one for the job. Two months isn’t long enough for wings to burn, but how long _can_ you fly?

It’s inevitable, he thinks, that things will boil over. They’re not soldiers now, but anyone can go to war. The problem is that they’ll keep the ambition- you can’t take that away, but you can always add loyalties and dark circles and grim faces.

And if it all goes wrong, there’ll be casualties.

But maybe he’s projecting.

Only time will tell.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic, so it's not great, but I hope to get better!


End file.
